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Urban Kraft Puts a Chic, Urban Twist on the Brown Paper Bag

Urban Kraft's line of purses, backpacks, duffels, and wallets look and feel like paper, but they're a far cry from the lunch sacks you toted to school as a child. The apotheosis of the androgynous-minimalist trend, the collection eschews traditional wood pulp for fibers derived from native Japanese flora, including bamboo, the gampi tree, and the mitsumatsa shrub. The result, according to the New York-based firm, is a material that's not only far stronger than conventional paper but weather- and water-resistant, as well. It's even washable, believe it or not.

PAPER FASHION

Aesthetics aside, Urban Kraft underscores the bags’ “indestructibility” as their defining feature. Despite the lightweight construction, each carryall is strong enough to support more than 65 pounds of weight, it claims.

The company also stands by its eco-friendly ethos. “Every product is handcrafted, and at every stage of the process we aim to minimize waste and our environmental footprint,” it says on its website. “We take great care to make sure that every detail of each product has been crafted to serve its purpose gracefully for years.”

Bonus: For the next month, Urban Kraft is offering a 50 percent discount on all preorders. (A laptop briefcase that’s ordinarily $116, for instance, is now $58.) Shipping begins in July.

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Slideshow

Urban Kraft Puts a Chic, Urban Twist on the Brown Paper Bag

Urban Kraft

1 of 7

Urban Kraft's line of purses, backpacks, duffels, and wallets look and feel like paper, but they're a far cry from the lunch sacks you toted to school as a child. The apotheosis of the androgynous-minimalist trend, the collection eschews traditional wood pulp for fibers derived from native Japanese flora, including bamboo, the gampi tree, and the mitsumatsa shrub. The result, according to the New York-based firm, is a material that's not only far stronger than conventional paper but weather- and water-resistant, as well. It's even washable, believe it or not.

Urban Kraft

Urban Kraft

Despite the lightweight construction, each carryall is strong enough to support more than 65 pounds of weight, it claims.

Urban Kraft

4 of 7

The company also stands by its eco-friendly ethos.

Urban Kraft

5 of 7

"Every product is handcrafted, and at every stage of the process we aim to minimize waste and our environmental footprint," it says on its website. "We take great care to make sure that every detail of each product has been crafted to serve its purpose gracefully for years."

Urban Kraft

6 of 7

Bonus: For the next month, Urban Kraft is offering a 50 percent discount on all preorders.